Voiceless Diva
by Celestial Duet
Summary: After getting adopted by her cousin's family,Hikari Adeline must regain her emotions and her voice in order to protect her family and friends from a growing evil that rise up in the Duo crisis.


Alright. So I'm basically taking this from my Deviant art Account because I am that lazy. The story centers around Netto's cousin, Hikari Adeline aka Addy, who is the daughter of Dr. Hikari's late brother, Hikari Riku. Addy's personality starts off as a scaredy cat since that is the only emotion she has left. The girl is basically mute due to a curse. Addy is also an air head and doesn't know how to react to things. So...yea... enjoy...

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><p>Netto bit his lip as he stared up the stairs, wondering, <em>"Will she ever come down? Is she even still alive?"<em>

"Hikari Netto! Young man, are you listening?"

He angrily looked up at his mother. Haruka knew that he was under stress with the deals with an extraterrestrial navi named Duo. However she knew more to the secret of the Duo Crest, particularly his. But she kept silent about it and decided to focus of his current issue: his relative, who they had just adopted a week before.

Hikari Adeline, Haruka's niece and Netto's cousin who was nine months younger than him who became a wealthy orphan. However, Adeline, lonely and timid as she was known to be, donated all of her inheritance to hospitals, her uncle's lab, even to Netto's school and much to Netto's dismay, the extras would pay for his education through college.

But Netto had never seen his cousin in nearly a decade. Even when she arrived at his house, she instantly ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room. She ate at different times, usually when Netto was either at school or even asleep. A few times on the weekend, Netto would try and stay up late in order to catch his elusive cousin in the act, only to taken over by sleep in less than an hour. Adeline only interacted with his mother and father and only once had Netto's navi, Rockman, had seen her silhouette run down the stairs, pause and then run back upstairs to eat her food.

"Netto, will you do me a favor?" Haruka asked.

"Sure, what is it, Mama?" he responded, his eyes patiently waited for her to come down.

"Will you leave Rockman today? I have some errands to run today and I need someone to watch Adeline while I'm gone."

"I guess, it's up to Rockman to decide if he wants to watch Itoko-chan," Netto mumbled, hoping that Rockman would say no to the idea.

"Sure, I'd love to look after Adeline-chan. Its likely that I'll get to meet Netto-kun's beloved cousin for the very first time!" Rockman piped up from his PET, making Netto's gut sink. He couldn't believe that his navi would rather stay home and babysit this anti-social relative than go to school with him and kick Gutsman and Dekao's butts to the curb! To make matters worse, Meriu and Roll were in Neotpia and wouldn't be back in a month and two days!

"Arigato, Rockman. I know I can always count on you. You might not know this, but Adeline is your biggest fan. Riku-kun said that she would watch you and Netto when you guys used to Net Battle," Haruka said as she put some dishes away.

"Well… at least she has a little bit of life in her," Netto mumbled as he drank his glass of milk.

"Netto!"

"What? She doesn't visit, she never calls and she doesn't even say hi."

"Netto, you may have not noticed but she hasn't been the same after her mother had died and to have her father killed in the blast must hurt her. You know she was your first best friend. You two were linked arm to arm and did everything together. I remembered when she would dress up like you and you two went around, making everyone think that you two were twins. You two still look alike even though her hair is longer."

"Yea… yea…yea… mama. But we're no longer close like we were when we were in diapers. That was a century ago. Anyways… have fun babysitting Invisible girl, Rockman," Netto said as he got up and grabbed his bag.

Haruka sighed as the door slammed behind him. She looked up the stairs seeing a silhouette of a small person peering out of Adeline's door. Then within a blink of an eye, the door hissed shut.

"Oh dear…" she said, shaking her head, "she must have heard us talking."

_"Well… she'll come down soon. I've seen how my son's kindness can bring out the best in people,"_said a quiet voice from her earphone.

"I hope so."

"Haruka-san? Who are you talking to?" Rockman asked.

"O-o-oh! Gomen Rockman, I'm just talking to myself! Anyways, make sure that Adeline eats her breakfast and lunch. I made her favorites. And please make sure she's not upset or anything. Oh and please tell her that her bike came in today. Yuuchiro ordered it for her as a welcome home gift. I'll be on my way now," Haruka stammered as she gathered her belongings. She quickly walked out of the house.

"Bye!" Rockman called. He patiently waited as an hour passed then two and then three. But there was no girl walking down the steps. Rockman yawned, feeling his eyes become heavy. Perhaps she would come out later.

_"Be patient and keep your eyes out. Please my son,"_the same mysterious voice whispered in his ear.

"Huh?" Rockman's emerald eyes shot open. He looked around the sight. It was completely empty. He swallowed hard. There could only be one thing that could have done that… a ghost!

Suddenly a thump came up from above as one door hissed open. Rockman listened carefully as the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floor. The footsteps became louder as a silhouette. Finally he was going to meet Netto's cousin!

"Konichiwa Adeline-chan!" he cried. He could hear a yelp as a blur of navy, white and brown tumbled down the steps then dive straight for the couch. Boy, he never met a girl who was this jumpy.

"A-A-Adeline-chan, are you okay? Did I scare you?" he asked, trying to see over the couch. He waited for a few seconds until he saw a pair of blue eyes peer over the couch.

"Oh there you are!"

She yelped and once again hid from his view. Rockman was starting to see why Netto was so bothered with her. But… he wouldn't back down. He was determined to get to know Adeline.

"Adeline-chan. Please don't be afraid… I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently. He heard a rustle and watched as she stood up and walk slowly towards the dining room table like a wounded doe. Rockman could see that she was an inch smaller than his net-op. Adeline was skinny, had dull blue eyes filled with fear and long thin brown hair with one single curl dangling over her shoulder. She was dressed in fancy Victorian wear which was odd for a girl to wear in this generation. But Rockman didn't mind one bit. In fact he thought she looked like a little doll in that outfit.

"Hi, Adeline-chan, I'm Rockman. I'm your cousin's net navi!" he said, smiling. Adeline curtsied and then looked away, shaking like a Jack Russell Terrier. Rockman became worried that she was uncomfortable with him.

"Are you alright, Adeline-chan?"

Adeline glanced at him and quickly nodded. She then raced up stairs and ran into her room. Rockman listened as he heard glass breaking and then sounds of rapid footsteps coming back down the steps. The girl came back with a sketchbook and a pen. She flipped open the book and began scribbling some words in it. She then flipped it over to show it to him.

_"Konichiwa Rock-kun. I'm Lady Hikari Adeline, Lord Hikari Netto's cousin, please to finally meet you too!" _were the words she wrote. Rockman chuckled. For some reason this girl was a strange one.

"Haruka made you breakfast. Please sit down and eat, it's still warm, Adeline-chan," he said gesturing the food behind the PET.

_"Arigato, Rock-kun. And please call me Addy. I perfer that name over Adeline," _Addy wrote.

"Addy. Well that makes your name easier to remember, Addy-chan!" Rockman said, "By the way… why do you write in your sketchbook?"

Addy looked down. Rockman could tell that she was rather disturbed by the question. She jotted down the words, _"I'm mute, Rock-kun. I've been like this since I was little. I used to speak… but then one day, nothing came out of my mouth. To this day, I have no voice." _

"Oh…" Rockman felt embarrassed for asking. He watched silently as she chewed her food. He could never imagine someone living without a voice. He suddenly felt a tap on the PET and looked up to see a life like portrait of himself staring back at him with the words, "To Rockman, the very first Navi who became my friend! With love, Addy-chan."

"Aw, thank you. That's very kind of you Addy-chan!" he said. Addy nodded. For at least another four hours did they have their "one sided" conversation. Rockman got to know Addy better. She loved to read… a lot. She loved to make clothes… even if they were at least three centuries out of fashion. And she loved to draw. But most of all, she missed her beloved cousin and told him that she was too afraid to visit him due to her condition. He could tell she was very sweet but lonely. He was upset that Netto said all of those nasty things about her and not once gave a chance to see her.

"Did you hear everything that Netto-kun said about you, Addy-chan," he asked, looking up into those dull dark blue eyes that made the girl look more like a robot than a human being. Addy nodded, not phased by the statement.

_"It's alright for him to call me a freak. After all I have forgotten what emotions are like. But being here talking with you, I'm slowly starting to recall those emotions… though its hard. I want to feel the way Netto feels but I just can't! Like right now, this emotion… what is it? I feel comfortable with you… just speaking with you. It's like nothing will harm with you around? Rock-kun… what is this emotion?" _she wrote.

"You feel safe…and I'll be happy to help you find those old emotions you lost," he said, placing his hand up to the screen with a comforting smile on his face. Addy nodded as her stomach growled. She looked up as the blue navi chuckled.

"I can guarantee you that means that you're hungry again. I swear… it must be a Hikari thing to be hungry, Addy-chan. Anyways there's some shrimp and rice in the fridge that your aunt left you. You can heat it up in the microwave," Rockman said. Adeline walked to the fridge and grabbed the sides of it. She believed that the food was underneath the contraption. But she never thought that it was this heavy. She gave up and walked back to the table.

_"Rock-kun… the fridge won't open," _she wrote.

"What?" the blue navi said as she took the PET and showed him how she tried to "open" the fridge. Rockman was surprised to see that she never done this simple task before.

"Addy, the fridge has a door," he said. Addy looked at him with curiosity.

_"Rock-kun… arigato but… I just found a new feeling… what is it? I feel stunned. I feel like I never knew that and yet it seems so logical now. What is that feeling?" _she wrote.

"I'm guessing it's surprised."

Addy nodded still unable to grasp at the term surprise. She opened the fridge door, amazed at how easy it was just to get food. She explained to Rockman that her fridge used to slide upward instead of having a door. Half smiling, she walked over to the microwave and stared at the appliance. She looked back at her cousin's navi with a confused gaze.

"Let me guess… you don't know how to work a microwave either?" Rockman asked.

After nearly an hour of explaining the "simple" way to work a microwave, Addy finally sat down to eat her lunch.

"Next time, don't scare me by setting the microwave to two hundred minutes, Addy-chan," Rockman sighed.

"Gomenasi… I am sorry if I am so clueless about all of these devices. Everything in my old home was very out of date. Father was into all of those old fashion things. Oji-san said that he was like Ojichan Takashi," Addy wrote. She got up and walked over to a black and white picture of a young man with a large grin on his face and a screen featuring a humanoid being behind him.

"That's your grandfather and the first navi only know as Uno. Otosan said that he died before Netto-kun was born," Rockman stated.

"Well… I now know that Netto inherited his dunce like grin. However his thousand times more dunce-like than Ojichan's," Addy scribbled. The blue navi burst laughing, seeing that Addy was getting back at what Netto called her earlier.

Two hours passed as Addy curled up on the couch and purred in her sleep. Rockman could only imagine what it was like to live like her… all alone in the Hikari house. He only heard the story of Addy through Yuuchiro, about the news of a new person coming into the picture, of hearing the death of Yuuchiro's dear twin brother. It was only the day after when Magnetman, a foe turned ally, stopped by to deliver news to Netto.

_"I'm telling you, Rockman… I've done a lot of bad things because of Gasuss-san and Tesla-chan. But neither of them have ever committed a crime like this before," the magnet humanoid navi said, shaking his head.  
>"What happened?" Rockman asked.<em>

"Well… we were transporting Dr. Hikari to the Hikari island. Man that place is huge! Anyways, there we were, just about ready to land when out of no where these huge helicopters came out of no where and started firing. Then a dimensional area formed over the island and these asteroid navis appear. Terrific… so I cross fuse with Tesla-chan and we help out Tesla's boy, Charlie. So we then have Gasuss-san take over the helicopter we were in and escort Dr. Hikari to this castle! Yes, sir! A castle! Nearly as big as that Pride's castle, only it was a lot creepier. We meet up with Yuriko and Mayabi and we then start to fight those navis, Tesla doing her usual insane gig, Charlie taking up the rear with Yuriko and Mayabi in front. Meanwhile the doc runs into the mansion and then a few minutes later runs out carrying this girl who… can you believe it? She looks like your net-op… only she's a girl with weird looking clothes and longer hair. I was stunned. Oh… but you should have seen Shadowman's face… now there's a picture you can hang up on the wall and stare at it all day. Well… anyways that girl was the reason that we came to Hikari island. As we retreated, I saw this guy who looked exactly like Dr. Hikari. He just stood there and fought off those navis but in the end he disappeared into that castle of his as it exploded… and that was that. Not sure why he refused to come along… even Hikari was really upset… I think that guy was his brother. But yea… I gotta get going, Rockman. Surprisingly enough, Tesla wanted to know if the girl was alright. She said that she was quiet the whole entire flight back."

"Otosan said she's fine… though I haven't seen her yet."

"Well she must be traumatized, the poor kid."

And with that Magnetman left Rockman's site, shaking his head in sadness. To have a former criminal that shaken up by the whole ordeal must have been so hard to come by.

Rockman looked up as Addy aroused from her sleep. She let out a light yawn and shook her head.

"Awake already?" Rockman asked gently.

Addy nodded, slowly swaying back and forth, ready to fall asleep again.

_"I read for approximately seven hours, fifty-eight minutes, ten seconds and twenty milliseconds last night," _she scribbled down on her sketchbook.

"What did you read?"

_"Itoko-kun's literature textbook and mathbook. He's missing a lot of homework. Luckily I did half of his math homework!" _

Rockman looked at her in a weird way. She didn't know how to work a microwave and yet she working on multiple and division just for her cousin… boy was she an odd ball.  
>"Ah… Adeline-chan… your bike came into day. I was wondering if you knew that," he asked. Addy looked up, her eyes brightened as she took the PET and ran to the garage. She tore open the package, throwing metal parts about the room.<p>

_"Shall we get to work, Rock-kun?"_she wrote. Rockman grinned and nodded as she slid the instruction chip into the PET. Within an hour, they completed a silver bike with red handles, a basket and a rack on the back of the bike. Addy sighed, feeling relief that the work was done.

"Addy-chan. You just found a new emotion! Pride!" Rockman said as the girl unrolled her sleeves. Suddenly the front door opened causing Addy to jump. Rockman watched as she scurried under the table and hid from view.

"Rockman! I'm home!" Netto called.

"I'm in the garage, Netto-kun!" Rockman yelled.

"You won't believe this! Someone did my math homework and Mariko-sensei took it and gave me an A+! Can you believe it! I got an A and I didn't have to do anything!"

Rockman rolled his eyes. "Yea… the "invisible girl" under the table did it for you, baka," he thought.

"Anyways how was baby sitting invisible- WHOA! Who made this awesome bike? And how did you get out here anyways?" Netto cried, dropping his books. He ran to the shiny new bike and rode it around the room.

"Stop that Netto-kun! That's Addy-chan's! She made it!" Rockman said.

"Addy-chan?"

"Hai. Addy-chan, your cousin! She even did your homework last night!"

Netto stopped and got off the bike, surprised to see that after a week, his cousin actually came down stairs and assembled a bike all while he was away…"

"Well where is she?" he asked.

"Under the table. Addy-chan… please come out… it's just your cousin."

Addy cautiously crawled out, looking up at the look alike cousin who she once knew. Netto's jaw hung open, seeing his childhood friend for the very first time in nearly a decade. The Addy he knew from his toddler years was very obnoxious and always created endless schemes that caused both of them trouble. She had bright blue eyes and a grin pasted on her chubby face.

But this Addy… looked so lost. Gone was the life in her eyes as they remained hidden by her overgrown bangs. Netto touched her cold cheek with the hand that was branded with the mark of Duo. For some reason… she flinched but continued to look at him.

"I-I-Itoko-chan… is it really you?" he whispered. She slowly nodded and was quickly pulled into a hug which caught her off guard. He twirled her around, surprised that she was as light as a feather.

"Why haven't you called? Couldn't you have written? Do you still sing like we use to when we were kids? Look at you! You look as if you were eaten by a closet!"

Addy blinked and opened her mouth as if to speak. But all that came out was a raspy gasp.

"What's wrong? Can't you speak?"

"Netto-kun… Addy-chan has been mute since the last time you met," Rockman said. Netto looked at her.

"Is it true?"

Addy nodded. _"I don't know why… all I remember was this bright light and some giant talking can head and when I came to, Itoko-kun… I could no longer speak let alone sing,"_she wrote. She stared at the ground, frustrated. Netto gently smiled and ruffled her thin brown hair.

"Baka… I'll help you learn how to speak… even sing again… Imoto-chan," he said. She looked up at the name.

"Well… we are now siblings, right?"

It took her a moment to register the name "Little Sister". It was a sweet little name. It made her feel more like part of his family than being called sister. _"May I call you Ni-sama?" _she wrote.

"Sure… why not… Weasel-chan…"

Addy made a face and punched her "brother" in the arm at the name he also called her when they were young. Rockman silently watched from the PET as his net-op walked his sister to her bike, explaining how to ride it. Addy slipped on the peddle and the sound of metal crashing echoed the garage followed by the sound of Netto's laughter.

That night, Addy walked into Netto's room, wearing a Victorian nightgown. She made a face at the hideous mess of dirty clothes, curry and pizza stains and the stench of whatever mold was growing on the side of some old bag strung on Netto's bed post.

_"Ew…"_ she wrote, _"Does he always live like this?" _

"No… its just that recently he's been having… issues…" Rockman said, gesturing the word. Addy cocked her head.

_"Is Ni-sama going mad, Rock-kun?" _

"No… baka… I'm not going mad," Netto mumbled as he dried himself off from a shower. He walked out to the deck with Addy following close behind him, holding his PET in her hand. She looked up and gasped at all the beautiful sparkling lights that glimmered in the midnight sky. A memory triggered in her mind of two young children giggling below a sky like this.

"Remember? Before she died, your mom took us to see the star festival. Even though it was years ago… I still think about it," Netto said. Addy absently nodded, still astonished by the thing that she forgot she loved.

_"Rock-kun!"_ she wrote, _"Isn't it pretty?" _

"Hai… even though I am in the cyber world, it still looks beautiful," Rockman said, nodding. He looked over at his Net-op, who was transfixed on one thing in the sky.

"Duo…" Netto whispered. He felt Addy elbow his stomach.

_"Netto… who's Duo and why do you keep staring at the stars?" _she wrote.

It was no different in keeping the whole Duo crisis a secret from her. Her father knew, his father knew, heck everyone in Scilabs knew.

"Will you promise to keep it a secret?" he asked. Addy rolled her eyes, making a face at him.

_"I'm mute… why would anyone believe a kid who can't even speak, baka!" _she scribbled. Netto chuckled and looked back at the sky.

"I was the second to be marked by Duo, a navi who wants to destroy earth due to the human's abuse to it. Me and twelve other members who you will meet in time are supposed to stop him from doing this. However… his crony, Slur keeps sending us giant versions of old enemies that Rockman and I defeated in the past and more and more they become tougher to beat," he said sadly.

_"You don't know what will happen?"_Addy wrote.

"Hai… now… Duo keeps appearing in my dreams speaking of a certain unofficial fourteenth member of his crest… someone he calls the Diva…a person with a crest not on their hand but in their eye. He says that the person is supposed to represent the good of humans. The person is supposed to be an innocent being and can also see Duo's comet…"

_"Why can't I see the comet? I never saw a comet before!" _

Netto looked down at his sister. "Only the thirteen and the Diva can see it, Imoto…"

Addy blinked, looking rather hurt by the fact that she couldn't see what her brother saw. Whatever it was it must have been beautiful for him to be looking up into the sky for so long.

"I wonder…" Haruka whispered as she stood outside of Netto's room, "does he know that his crest is different from the others?"

_"He'll find out eventually… they both will… after all they are both tied in wheel of destiny…"_ the voice said.


End file.
